Auger outlet extension

ABSTRACT

An outlet extension is disclosed for an auger. The extension includes a forming core and a surrounding sleeve which are rigidly interconnected to the core of the auger. The forming core has a forming path defined in the surface thereof. The forming path is parallel to the axis of rotation of the forming core for the major portion of the length thereof and curved at the auger end thereof to form a continuation of the helix of the auger.

Umted States Patent (111 3,559,561 I 72] Inventors John A. Page [56]References Cited Minneapolis. n a UNITED STATES PATENTS A I N 328%:-Dechmne, 2,479,261 8/1949 Reetz 18/12(SE) fi 18 1969 2,856,868 10/1958Kennedy 1o7/14.4x

s Patented a 3,102,694 9/1963 Frenkel 18/12(SA) [73] A i ee Ge ral MillI Primary Examiner-Walter A. Scheel a corporation of l AssistantExaminer-Leon G. Machlin l )ivisi0n of Ser. No. 380,890, July 7, 1964,Attorneys-Anthony A. Juettner and Harold D. .lastram Patent No.3,498,793.

. M [54] AUGER OUTLET EXTENSION 2 chums Drawmg ABSTRACT: An outletextension is disclosed for an auger. [52] U.S.CI 99/234, The extensionincludes a forming core and a surrounding 18/l2;99/353; 100/145 sleevewhich are rigidly interconnected to the core of the [51] Int. Cl A47j36/14 auger. The forming core has a forming path defined in the sur-[50] Field of Search 99/234, face thereof. The forming path is parallelto the axis of rota- 353; l07/l4.4, 14.5, 14.7; IOU/82,84, I17, l45150,299; 18/12-14, 322; 259/9; 23/280, 290.5; 18/12(A, ,DR,SA,SE,SI,SS),13W, 14R

tion of the forming core for the major portion of the length thereof andcurved at the auger end thereof to form a continuation of the helix ofthe auger.

PATENTED FEB2 I9?! SHEET 1 [IF 4 I NVIZNTORS JOHN A. PAGE BY ROBERT C.DE CHAINE PATENTED F552 I911 SHEET 2 [1F 4 mmmuoma mmmmaioo INVENTORS'JOHN A. PAGE BY ROBERT C. DECHAINE ATTORNEY FATENTEB FEB2 I971 SHEET 3UF 4 I N VEN TORQ JOHN A. PAGE ROBERT c. DECHAINE MW AT T0 EY AUGERouruzr EXTENSION This invention relates to the art of producing foodproducts high in protein and composed of edible protein fibers. Moreparticularly, the invention concerns an auger outlet extension, such asmay be used for manufacturing simulated meat products.

It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus suitablefor producing a fibrous food protein product which contains asubstantial portion of protein and resembles a meat product. p

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved apparatus of sanitary design which can be operated on acontinuous basis.

The invention contemplates a novel apparatus, which may include a mixerfor combining a fibrous protein product with any additive and intimatelyintermixing the materials. The mixed materials are then discharged fromthe mixer into an auger where the material is heated to set a binderwhich is part of the additive and in which the fibers of the fibrousprotein product are oriented in order to simulate the fiber orientationof the meat product. The auger is designed so that the product iscompressed to remove air and to compact the fibrous product prior todischarge. At the discharge end of the auger an auger attachment isprovided for controlling the discharge of the fibers in order tofacilitate cutting or further processing of the processed product. Aheating jacket may be utilized in connection with the auger wall inorder to heat the combined materials and set the binder.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from thefollowing detailed description of an apparatus forming specificembodiments when read in conjunction with the drawing, in which;

FIG. 1 is a front view of an apparatus according to the presentinvention showing a mixer and an auger in partial cross section inrelation to other elements of the apparatus,

FIG. 2 is a cross section view of the auger shown in FIG. 1 and showingthe fibrous protein products in the auger,

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a process in which the presentinvention may be used,

FIG. 4 is a cross section view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a segment of the fibrous protein productprior to processing in the present invention,

FIG. 6 is an alternate embodiment of an auger which might be utilized inthe apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2,

FIG. 7 is an alternate embodiment of an auger which might be used in theapparatus in FIGS. 1 and FIG. 2,

FIG. 8 is an end view of a section which might be attached to the augerillustrated in FIGS. 2, 6, and 7,

FIG. 9 is a segmented view partially in cross section of an alternateembodiment of FIG. 8 which may be attached to the end of the augerassembly as illustrated in FIG. 2,

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a problem which exists in handling offibrous protein material, and

FIG. 11 is a cross section view taken along lines 11-11 of FIG. 9.

The spun protein products can be produced using apparatus including thepresent invention. A wide variety of protein materials which are ediblecan be used in preparing the product. Representative of such materialsare soybean,'com, peanuts, and pea proteins, as well as various animalproteins such as casein. The edible proteins spun into fibrous form maythe i be prepared, for example, by first dispersing dry or water slurisgenerally within the range of about l0,000 to 20,000 centipoises andabout 25 to 45C., respectively. Viscosity, pH, temperature, andconcentrations of alkaline metal hydroxide and protein will varysomewhat with the particular protein being dispersed. Also, dispersionmay amount to a colloidal solution.

The spinning dispersion or dope is forced through a porous membrane suchas a spinneret used in the production of rayon, and into a coagulatingbath which is generally an acid and salt solution.

Individually spun filaments from the various spinnerettes are broughttogether in bundles or tows and stretched by pulling them from thecoagulating bath over take up rolls. A variety of methods may be used tostretch the fibers composing the various tows. The stretching processalters textural characteristics by changing the diameter and strength ofthe individual fibers.

In such a process, the fibrous tow is first severed across itslongitudinal axis into segments 12 such as that illustrated on theconveyor 11 of FIG. 1 in the drawing. The tow may be severed byconventional means and segments 12 deposited on the conveyor 11. The towis cut into segments 12 in order that the segments may be processed tothoroughly impregnate the individual bundles of fibers with an additivewhich contains the individual constituents which provide the color,taste, smell and other characteristics of a meat product.

Next the segments 12 are combined with the additive which together withthe fiber segments provide the physical characteristics of a productwhich resembles meat. An additive is formulated which containsconstituents necessary to produce a particular type of meat products.Generally speaking, the additive will include a coloring agent toprovide the meat color, a binder to bind the individual filaments of thefibrous protein product, a flavoring agent which will depend upon themeat to be simulated, a fat in order to increase the fat content of thefinished product to a level normally associated with the meat involved,and other ingredients which might be utilized to enhance the stabilityof a product.

Binders are added to the fibrous protein product in order to bind theindividual fibers together so that the fibrous texture of the productwill resemble that of meat. The unbound fibers tend to separate whenthey are further processed, handled or cooked. When a binder is added,the mass of fibers appear to have the connective tissue normallyassociated with the connective tissue of ordinary meat.

Another major constituent of the additive is fat. All meattype productshave a certain quantity of fat associated with the 'protein of the meatproduct. This fat occurs in various flavors,

concentrations, and physical forms depending upon the type of meatconsidered.

A number of vegetable oils both hydrogenated and unhydrogenated havebeen found to be useful. Examples of these are cottonseed oil, corn oil,soybean oil, coconut oil, and similar vegetable oils. Examples of animalfats may include lard, tallow, chicken fat, butter, fish oils, andvarious other animal and seafood fats. Other oils such as mineral oils,olive oil and the like might also be considered. It is to be pointed outhere that the above fats are listed by way of example and not in termsof limiting the scope of the invention herein.

A number of other ingredients go into making up the additive. Examplesof some of these additional constituents are skim milk solids which maybe used as a filler and as a binder. Sugar, starch, monosodium glutamateas a flavor enhancer, hydrolyzed protein as a flavoring agent, spices,onions, salt, dried egg whites, wheat gluten, garlic, white pepper, andonion powder, and other ingredients which will produce the final flavorand characteristics of the meat being simulated. The number and type ofingredients is only limited in part by the characteristics which aredesired in the end product considering such things as the final use towhich the product will be placed such as a chilled product or a cookedproduct, a dry product or a wet product, the type of meat to besimulated, the period of stability desired in the product and similarfactors.

The segments 12 are next combined with the additive containing theabove-described constituents. The combining may take place by simplypouring the additive together with the segment 12 into a suitablecontainerfor containing the mass. At this point the combined segmentsand additive are agitated in some manner in order to impregnate thefibers with the additives. This impregnation step is illustrated byblock 13 in the block diagram shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings.

At this point, the viscous mass containing the fibers and theimpregnating additive does not resemble a meat product for severalreasons. First the mass is in a sense viscous. Secondly, the fibers arenot aligned in any fashion in a manner normally recognizable in meat.Further, the fibers do not have the compact consistency normallyassociated with meat. Accordingly, the viscous mass is next worked ortreated in order to impart many of the physical characteristicsassociated with meat to the fibrous protein product. The mass containingthe randomly aligned fibers is accordingly drawn out and worked so thatthe fibers become aligned in a somewhat uniform fashion. Meat normallyhas a fiber alignment characteristic of the muscle involved in the meatcut. Accordingly, the mass may be layed out in a thin stream in order toachieve some degree of fiber alignment. An apparatus which might also beutilized for accomplishing the fiber alignment is illustrated in thedrawings and is described hereinafter. An auger is utilized for thispurpose and tends to align the fibers as the material travels from thefeed end of the auger to the discharge end thereof. This augering actiontends to align the fibers and simulate the fibered texture andcharacteristics of meat.

As illustrated in box 14 of the block diagram shown in FIG. 3, thealignment and compression of the fibers may take place at the same time.A squeezing action is applied to the mass of viscous material so thatthe fibers are forced together or into contact with each other thussubstantially achieving the conipactness of the fiber bundle of a meatproduct. The compression may be accomplished in varying degrees in orderto simulate the various meat products which may be reproduced. Forinstance, a beef-type product will normally have more compact fiberstructure than might be expected in a fishtype product. Accordingly,application of more or less pressure to the viscous fibrous mass isutilized in order to accomplish the end result desired. This compressioncan be accomplished by simply squeezing the fibers together bymechanical means or by hand. The requirement is that the fibers becompacted. Again an example of an apparatus which might be utilized forthis purpose is illustrated in the drawings and will be described asnoted.

If a binder is properly chosen, one which will coagulate and set undercompressive action, the binder will coagulate and agglutinate or bindthe individual fibers together in somewhat the same manner that theconnective tissue in a muscle fiber bind the various fibers of a meatproduct together. This binding fimction of the binding constituent inthe additive thus imparts firmness to the product. Thus with the fibersaligned in substantially the same manner as that in the meat product andwith the fibers bound together by a suitable binder such as one of thetypes listed, the fibrous protein product takes on the consistency of ameat product. If the proper combination of ingredients is chosen, andprocessed in this manner, the resultant product will have a toughnessand resistance to disintegration which is characteristic of meat.

Depending upon the particular characteristics of the binder utilized,the heat or whatever coagulating agent is utilized, may be applied priorto the compression of the product as well as during the compression ofthe product. One of the essential results which is to be achieved iscompaction of the fibrous material so that the individual fibers of themass will be securely bound together. The binder also serves one otherfunction and that involves the locking" of the various ingredients orconstituents of the additive in position, within the fibrous segments12. The coagulated binder acts as an agent for locking the distributedingredients of the additive about the fibers so that the thoroughdistribution of the additive achieved by the agitation remains constantafter the product has been processed to a finished product. This isessential of course in order to insure uniformity of the product and asustained high quality of the product. The binder also prevents theflavoring agents and coloring material from leaching out of the finishedproduct.

At this point in theiprocess, the product is an unbroken coagulated massof simulated meat product which has the essential characteristics of ameat product. The unbroken mass may now be further processed to enhancethe characteristics of the product if desired. For instance, ifhamburger is desired as the finished product, a further processing stepof grinding may be necessary to bring the simulated meat product to theconsistency of hamburger. If a seafood, fish, or fowl-type product is tobe simulated, the product may be diced, cubed or sliced in order tosimulate the usual characteristics of these products. If a ham productis to be simulated, slicing of the product or for that matter, cubingthe product may be desirable.

Since the product described at this point is essentially a moistproduct, having a quantity of water trapped by the coagulated binder, afurther step may be taken to make the product marketable. This stepinvolves drying the product so that it may be packed in ordinarypackages and stored without refrigeration. The drying brings themoisture content of the product to about 2 percent to about 8 percent byweight. Preferably, the product is dried to a range of from about 4percent to about 5 percent by weight. Thus a hamburger product may bedried so that the resulting product is granular in' form. It has beenfound that this granular product can be stored without refrigeration andis easily rehydrated by simply heating the product in the presence ofmoisture. The drying illustrated by box 17 in the block diagram of FIG.3 may be accomplished by any number of well-known methods of dryinggranular material or cubed material.

Most of these steps described above in connection with processing thefibrous protein product from a raw fiber to a finished simulated meatcan be accomplished by readily available equipment or can beaccomplished by simple hand operated means. Also, one embodiment of anovel and preferred apparatus in which the process of the invention maybe accomplished is set forth in the attached drawings.

After the segments 12 have been cut by conventional cutting means, theyare deposited as noted above on the conveyor belt 11. This conveyor beltcarries the segments to an inlet 18 of a mixer 19. Housing 21 of mixer19 is an enclosed tank or reservoir for containing combined segments 12and additive. The additive is combined with the segments 12 at the inlet18 flow from tanks 22 and 23. Tank 22 contains a discharge 24 forintroducing fat into inlet 18 of mixer 19. The discharge 24 contains avalve 26 for controlling the rate of flow of fat from the tank 22 sothat a precise amount of fat may be added to the' segments 12 dependingon end characteristics desired in the finished simulated meat product. Aserum is mixed and consists essentially of all the other previouslydescribed ingredients. The serum is stored in tank 23. From this tank23, the serum flows through discharge 27 and is combined with thesegments 12 and the fat from the tank 22. A combined fat and serum makeup the additive as the term is used in this specification. (If properemulsifiers are used, the fat can be premixed with the serumingredients.) A valve 28 is utilized to control the quantity of serumflowing from the serum tank 23. As with the fat, a control forregulating the amount of serum introduced into combination with thesegments is necessary in order to arrive at a desired endcharacteristics in the simulated meat product. The fat and serum areessentially in a liquid form and therefore the housing 21 must be ofsuch a nature that the liquid can be contained.

Refer now to FIG. 4 of the drawings where the mixer 19 is shown. Themixer 19 has two agitators 29 mounted side by side in the housing 21.These agitators 29 each contain a shaft 31 with radially extendingpaddles 32 along the length of the shaft. Each shaft 31 is mounted ateither end of the housing 21 by bearing supports and 33. The agitatorsare driven through a sprocket and chain drive which is connected tomotor 34. The motor 34 drives sprocket 36 through a gear system 37. Thesprocket 36 and sprocket 38. which is connected to the drive shaft 29are interconnected by a chain 41. The sprocket 38 is connected to a gearsystem 39 which transmits the power from the motor 34 to both of theshafts 31 thus rotating the agitators 29. The gear systems 37 and 39 maybe utilized to operate the agitators at any speed desired. Also,manipulation of the gear systems can accomplish rotation of theagitators in clockwise or counterclockwise directions depending upon thedegree and kind of agitation desired for the combined segments andadditive.

The mixer thoroughly and violently agitates the combined segments andadditive so that the fibrous bundles or segments 12 develop anappearance similar to liquid saturated balls of cotton. This agitatingaction by the paddles 32 results in thoroughly impregnating the fibroussegments with the additive so that the resulting mass as notedpreviously, appears to be a rather viscous mass containing fibers. Thefibers thus saturated are randomly aligned due to the intense agitationto which they have been subjected. The mixer 19 may be slightly tiltedtoward the discharge end 42 or the paddles 32 may be slanted so that themass of material moves from the inlet 18 toward the outlet 42 of themixer 19. The fibrous mass of material is discharged directly into theinlet 43 of an auger cooker generally designated by the number 44. Thefibrous mass of material 46 enters the opening 43 where it encountersthe flights 47 of an auger generally designated by the numeral 48.

The auger 48 (FIG. 2) is driven through a drive system by a motor 49.(See also FIG. 1.) This motor 49 can be directly connected to the core51 of the auger 48 as shown in FIG. 2 or it may be connected to theauger 48 through a sprocket and gear chain system as illustrated in FIG.1 of the drawings. In the FIG. 1 system, the motor 49 is connected to ashaft 52 through a sprocket 53, a chain 54 and a sprocket 56. Thissprocket system is in turn driven by motor 49 through a gear reducer 57.The gear reducer permits control of the speed of the auger 48. The auger48 is mounted within the auger housing 58 by mounting the auger 48 on asuitable bearing block 61. The auger 48 may be cantilever mounted suchas that shown in the FIG. 2 so that the discharge end 59 is notmountedon a bearing block to disrupt the flow of material along theflights 47 of the auger. If, however, the auger 48 is too large to becantilever mounted on a bearing 61 as shown in FIG. 2, then a bearingblock and bearing may be attached to the discharge end 59 to support theauger 48. These are mere mechanical manipulations within the skill ofthe art.

The mass of viscous fiber material engages the flight 47 at the augerinput 62 and is conveyed by rotation of the auger 48 from the input end62 to the discharge end 59. The fibrous mass enters the auger 48 as amass of material having the appearance of saturated fibrous cotton withrandom alignment of the fibers in the mass. During the movement of thefibrous mass from the input end 62 to the output end 59, the auger tendsto align the fibers. This alignment apparently comes from the plug-typemovement of the material as it is moved along the auger flights 47.Experience has shown that the fibrous mass tends to be transformed froma mass of randomly aligned fibers at the input end 62 to a mass having anoticeable fiber alignment at the discharge end 59.

The fibrous mass is compressed between the auger flights 47, the core51, and the wall of the housing 58 as it moves along the length of theauger 48. This compression forces the individual fibers of the masstogether thereby compacting the fibrous material removing excess airfrom between the fibers and enhancing its meatlike characteristics.

If the fibrous mass introduced into the opening 49 contains an additivehaving a cat coagulable binder such as eg albumin in a preferredembodiment, a hot water jacket 63 is placed about the auger housing 58so that hot water or steam may be introduced through inlet 64 to contactthe outer walls of the auger housing 58. (This heat unit might also beelectric or the like.) This heating medium warms the walls of augerhousing 58 and heats the mass between the flights 47 to a temperaturesufficient to coagulate the binder. Accordingly. as the fibrous massmoves along the length of the auger 48 to the discharge end 59, thebinder is coagulated at a controlled rate depending upon thetemperatures applied to the auger housing 58 and is completelycoagulated when the product reaches the discharge end 59. The bindercoagulates and traps the in gredients of the additive throughout thefibrous mass for uniform distribution and locks these ingredients inplace throughout the cross section of the resulting product. Further,the heat coagulable binder in this case binds the fibers together sothat the finished product discharged from the discharge end 59 has thefirm consistency of a meat product. The compression of the fibrousmaterial during the coagulation of the binder forces the individualfibers of the mass closer together so that the binder effectively bindsthe individual fibers together in addition to trapping the ingredientsof the additive in the overall mass of material. The resulting productdischarged at 59 is a plug of material 66 which has a recognizable fiberalignment which simulates that of meat and which has a texture, physicalappearance, and other characteristics of a meat product. The hot waterwhich enters through inlet 64 is discharged through outlet 67 so that acomplete circulation of heating water or steam is accomplishedthroughout the jacket 63. The temperature supplied to the walls werenoted previously in connection with the description of the processinvolved. The hot water jacket 63 may have several compartments 65 sothat a separate water supply at inputs 64, 70, 75 and 85 can be used toheat the wall of the housing 58. See FIG. 1. This pennits temperaturecontrol along the length of the auger. The valves individually controlthe rate of flow of steam and/or hot water to the respectivecompartments. The auger core 51 may also be made hollow (see FIG. 4) sothat a heat unit 55 can be inserted This additional heat unit permitsmore effective control of the temperatures within the housing 58.

Since the finished product 63 emerges as a long plug of simulated meatproduct, the product does not resemble the physically recognizable cutsof meat ordinarily encountered in a butcher shop. A cutter 68 isattached to the end of the auger housing 58 so that blades 69 insertedwithin the cutter 68 will cut the plug of material 66 into chunkssufficiently small to be further processed. The auger flights 47 simplyforce the plug of material 66 against the sharp knives 69 thus severingthe plug of material 66 at various points. The chunks of material arethen discharged for further processing.

Ordinarily one associates a difference in texture and compactness withthe different meat products. This difference in texture and firmness canoften be measured in terms of compactness or toughness of the meatproduct. This characteristic can be achieved in part by compressing thefibrous mass to a greater degree than possibly by a simple auger such as48 where the core 51 is straight and the auger flights are uniform depthand pitch. An auger, typical of those on which the present invention maybe mounted, is disclosed in FIG. 6. Auger 71 has a core 72 which tapersfrom the input end 73 to the out-put end 74. In other words the depth ofthe individual flight 76 becomes less toward the output end 74 of theauger 71. A further change in auger 71 is the change in the pitch of theflight 76. The pitch is decreased toward the output end 74. Thiscombination of decreased toward the output end 74. This combination ofdecreased depth of flight and decreased pitch of the flights result in areduced volume into which the fibrous mass is compressed with respect tothe wall of the auger housing 58. The result of this reduced volume ofcourse results in an increase in the compression applied to the fibrousmass as it moves from the input end 73 to the discharge end 74. An augersuch as this has been successfully utilized for the production of redmeat-type products.

Another embodiment of an auger which might be utilized in the apparatusdisclosed in FIG 1 is theuuger 77 illustrated in FIG. 7 of the drawings.Auger 77 contains flights 78 which have a varying pitch. The core 79 ofthe extruder 77 is also varied in diameter so that the depth of theflight 78 varies from the input end to the output end thus producing thesqueezing or compressing action achieved in the auger 71 of FIG. 6.Auger 77. however, contains an additional section 81 connected to theoutput end of the auger for manipulating the fibrous plug of material atthe output end 82. In the auger illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 6, the-plugof material leaves the augers and forms a helix in substantially theform of a coil spring. The plug of material from such an auger movesparallel to the central axis of the coil and consequently there may besome problem in handling the material. For instance, in furtherprocessing, it may be desired to cut the finished fibrous proteinproduct in a certain manner but to cut it along the length of the plugrather than cross section the plug. Therefore, section 81 provides ameans for aligning the plug of material so that the plug of materialultimately emerges from the auger 77 in a continuous straight stream ofmaterial. Section 81 contains a pair of channels 83 and 86 which are acontinuation of the space between flights 78. These channels areessentially extensions of the helical path between flights 78. A plug ofmaterial which arrives at point 84 is separated by the extension 86 sothat a portion of the plug follows channel 83 and a second portion ofthe plug moves along channel 86. Channels 83 and 86 gradually changedirection until the channels are parallel to the central axis of theauger 77 and thus material travelling along the length of the channels83 and 86 emerge from the auger 77 parallel to'the axis thereof andtravelling in a forward direction along the length of the plug. Thispermits cutting the plug of material across the length of the plug. Morethan two channels may be utilized and such an auger with three channelshas been used with success.

The section 81 illustrated in FIG. 7 shows two channels 83 and 87 whichare formed from a single flight extruder. Refer now to FIG. 8 for asimilar section 88 which is an extension of a double flight extruder 89.In such an extruder 89, no point 86 necessary to separate the plug ofmaterial leaving the auger flightv In this case two plugs of material,one in each of two separate channels 91 and 92 simply move along thelongitudinal axis of the auger 88 without separating into two parts. Itis to be noted at this point that a number of channels 91 which might beutilized in an end section 88 maybe varied from 1 to several suchchannels.

Since the end channels which align the product along the central axisalong the auger results in a product having the fiber alignmentsubstantially parallel to the central axis of the core of the auger, aspecial problem arises. The problem is illustrated in FIG. of thedrawings where the fibrous product 93 is shown in cross section. Thecore 94 of the auger or end section 81 such as that shown in FIG. 7. issurrounded by a sleeve 96. This sleeve normally would be an extension ofthe wall of the housing 58 shown in FIG. 2 and is stationary. Since thecore 94 is rotating in the clockwise direction and the individual fibersof the product 93 are parallel to the central axis as noted of the core94, the relative movement between the auger core 94 and the stationaryhousing 96 forces a few fibers 97 between the moving surfaces of thecore 94 and the sleeve 96 into the space 98. This material 97 producesclogging of the working mechanisms and produces a damaged and unsanitaryfinished product. The damage occurs because the fibers 99 next theinside wall of the sleeve 96 tend to cling to the sleeve and are notproperly carried with channel 101. This condition occurs in the endsection referred to and discussed in FIGS. 7 and 8 of the drawingsbecause of the realignment of the plug of fibrous product. Accordingly,the present invention provides a solution to this problem and isillustrated in FIGS. 9 and 11 of the drawings. The housing of the auger102 contains a flange 103 at the output end. Within this flange a sleeve104 is fitted by a moving connection such as a bearing 106. The sleeve104 is rigidly connected by a setscrew 107 to the forming core 108. T usit will be noted that as the auger 109 rotates, the end section 111 alsomoves but the sleeve 104 moves with the forming core 108 thus no fiberswill slide in the space 98 illustrated in FIG. 10 and clog the outletend of the auger. This result is achieved because at a place where theplug is moving in a helical fashion within the housing no cloggingproblem occurs since the fibers engage the stationary wall along theirlength. The clogging only occurs when the fibers simultaneously moveparallel to their own axis and engage a stationary wall while the fibersare also moving about the core of the auger in a channel 101. The effectof the mechanism in FIG. 9 is to remove the later relative movementbetween the fibers and a containing wall 104. The end sectionillustrated in FIG. 9 may be connected to the auger 109 by a bolt 112 asillustrated in FIG. 9 or it may be an integral part of the auger asillustrated in FIG. 7 of the drawings.

It is to be understood that the examples, embodiments and variations aremerely illustrative of the invention and numerous modifications willoccur to those skilled in the art which fall within the scope of theinvention.

We claim:

1. An outlet extension for an auger and housing which comprises aforming core rigidly connected to the core of said auger, said formingcore having a forming path in the surface of said forming core andparallel for a major portion of the length of said forming core to theaxis of rotation of said forming core, said forming path being curved atthe auger end of said forming core to form a continuation of the helixof said auger, a sleeve surrounding said forming core and rigidlyconnected to said forming core, said sleeve having an inside diameterequal to the inside diameter of the housing surrounding said auger, andbearing means interconnecting said sleeve and housing.

2. An outlet extension for an auger and housing which comprises aforming core rigidly connected to the core of said auger, said formingcore having at least two forming'paths in the surface of said formingcore each parallel for a major portion of the length of said formingcore to the axis of rotation of said forming core, each of said pathsbeing curved at the auger end of said forming core to form acontinuation of the helix of said auger, a sleeve surrounding saidforming core and rigidly connected to said forming core, said sleevehaving an inside diameter equal to the inside diameter of the housingsurrounding said auger and bearing means interconnecting said sleeve andhousing.

1. An outlet extension for an auger and housing which comprises aforming core rigidly connected to the core of said auger, said formingcore having a forming path in the surface of said forming core andparallel for a major portion of the length of said forming core to theaxis of rotation of said forming core, said forming path being curved atthe auger end of said forming core to form a continuation of the helixof said auger, a sleeve surrounding said forming core and rigidlyconnected to said forming core, said sleeve having an inside diameterequal to the inside diameter of the housing surrounding said auger, andbearing means interconnecting said sleeve and housing.
 2. An outletextension for an auger and housing which comprises a forming corerigidly connected to the core of said auger, said forming core having atleast two forming paths in the surface of said forming core eachparallel for a major portion of the length of said forming core to theaxis of rotation of said forming core, each of said paths being curvedat the auger end of said forming core to form a continuation of thehelix of said auger, a sleeve surrounding said forming core and rigidlyconnected to said forming core, said sleeve having an inside diameterequal to the inside diameter of the housing surrounding said auger andbearing means interconnecting said sleeve and housing.